


Sailor

by starstrucktooru



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Kinda, M/M, Sickfic, drake never happened, i don't know shit about hospitals so pls pretend this is accurate, tilda was still a shitty mother and nicky took the twinyards in when she died of overdose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 02:19:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18489274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstrucktooru/pseuds/starstrucktooru
Summary: One night when Andrew was going home from Neil's house he got caught in a downpour and ended up in the hospital. Neil, comes to visit him and Andrew's gay panic is On.Andrew tried to concentrate on the TV, on the bright colours and loud noises, but no matter how hard he tried, he found that Neil’s presence, so close yet so far away, would always be louder and he couldn’t help but throw glimpses at Neil.The wind was rising, the waves were crashing and crashing, and he was a reckless sailor looking down into the ocean’s wild waters, deep blue like-“Uh, Andrew, you okay there?”





	Sailor

**Author's Note:**

> hello, and thank you for giving this fic a chance!! it's my first in the aftg fandom and i'm scared shitless i made them too ooc that my brain stopped functioning midway through, so it would be really nice if you could leave a comment and help me improve!! thanks and i hope you'll like it! :)
> 
> the title is actually from the song Mornar (Sailor) by Yu Grupa and i think it kinda fits andreil :)

Andrew knew the new kid was trouble, with his stupid laugh, and the totally not hot British accent and deep blue eyes and hair that looked like it could catch fire and probably engulf Andrew in it, too. He had told Renee the kid was more trouble than he was worth, yet he was as helpless as a poor sailor at the first note of a siren’s song. And that’s why, when his brother had brought the new kid home to study for their upcoming chemistry test, Andrew had casually strolled into Aaron’s room while he was in the bathroom, and glanced around the room, looking everywhere except at the kid. The kid - he should really start calling him by his name, Neil Josten, but just imagining how his name rolled off his tongue did weird things to him that he wasn’t ready to admit - had noticed Andrew’s search was coming up short and cleared his throat to catch Andrew’s attention.

“Uh, Andrew, right? Are you looking for something?”

He’d seen the kid around the school, shared some classes with him, but never talked to him. He was often on the side and trying to avoid the spotlight, but the pretty face wasn’t enough to garner Andrew’s full attention. What did, though, was the kid roasting the absolute fuck out of the class’s resident asshole. In that damned accent.

Hearing his name coming from the ki-  _ Josten’s _ mouth, well, he was ready to admit he was absolutely fucked. He regarded Josten with a bored glance and continued looking around.

“Great deduction skills. I need Aaron’s charger.”

Of course, he knew where the charger was, but Josten didn’t have to know that. He saw Josten frown, but before he could make a retort, Aaron came into the room.

“My charger’s done for. Where’s yours?”

Aaron lifted a brow at him because he knew that Andrew knew where the charger was, but Andrew gave him a pointed look to shut him up. Aaron gave a quick glance in Josten’s direction to show Andrew that he was onto him, and gave him the charger.

The next day, Andrew sat at Josten’s table. He learned that Josten had moved with his mother, Mary, because of his parents’ nasty divorce, that Mary had wanted to be as far away as possible from her abusive ex-husband, and even changed her last name so he wouldn’t be able to find her. He also learned that Mary was quite obsessive and paranoid over her son, that she was downright hostile to every friend that Josten’s ever made, and that she let him out of the house only under the condition that he carry his phone on him all the time, and that he came home straight away after the classes.

So Andrew and Josten came up with a solution. A couple of nights a week after school Andrew would go under Josten’s window and wait for Josten to let him in. Soon enough Josten became Neil, a good company who sometimes didn’t know when to shut up for his own good, but who respected Andrew’s boundaries and never pushed for more than Andrew would give him. And Andrew was  _ hooked _ .

It was on one of these nights when the weather broadcast proved to be shit yet again. It was a warm night, no need for jackets, or so the broadcaster said. It was also, unfortunately, when Andrew felt the crisp breeze rise and the first droplets of rain start to fall. Andrew would really have to file a report against the broadcaster one of these days.

* * *

 

Andrew didn’t show up at school the next day. He wasn’t in Neil’s Spanish class, but since it was their first class Neil brushed it off as Andrew sleeping in. But when he couldn’t find him at lunch or anywhere else, Neil started to worry. He knew that Andrew had bad days after nightmares about the time before his cousin took him in, but he still backtracked to the night before, thinking that maybe something they had talked about got under Andrew’s skin. He came up with nothing and it wasn’t like Andrew would hesitate to tell him when to stop. He decided to give Andrew space and wait until Andrew came to him. But Andrew didn’t show up the next day either.

On the third day, he finally gave in and decided to ask Aaron what was going on. While their teacher was droning on about neutralisation, Neil leaned closer to Aaron’s desk and whispered his name. Aaron turned to look at Neil and raised his chin in a sign that he was listening.

“Where’s Andrew?”

Aaron raised a brow at him. “Took you long enough. He’s in hospital.”

Neil felt his stomach bottom out, and he quickly tried to push the panic rising in his throat down. Did he get in a fight again? Or were the nightmares too much? He remembered the knife Andrew always kept on himself and the armbands covering the scars on his skin. Neil swallowed and kept his voice as steady as possible.

“What happened?”

“The rain caught him and he got pneumonia. Told Nicky it was nothing that hot chocolate couldn’t solve and Nicky almost had to drag him to the hospital.”

The teacher sent them a pointed look and Aaron turned towards the board. As soon as the bell rang, Neil took Aaron by his elbow and dragged him through the crowd of people who apparently had nothing better to do than walk slower than snails in the school corridors.

“I’m telling my mom we’re going to study at your house and I need you to confirm it.”

Aaron huffed. “He won’t be grateful to you.”

“Like I care.” Neil put a finger to his lips as he waited for Mary to pick up.

“Mom? No, everything’s okay. I just called you to say that I’m going to Aaron’s after school to study. No, don’t wait for me, I don’t know when we’ll finish, these things are a bit tricky. Sure.”

He passed the phone to Aaron who put on his most polite voice.

“Hello, Ms Josten. Yes, it’s tomorrow. No, we didn’t know, the teacher just told us.” He paused for a moment. “No, the soulless one won’t be there. Okay. Goodbye.”

Aaron hung up and passed the phone back to Neil. “Soulless. She’s mellowed.”

* * *

 

Andrew was lying in his hospital bed with a sweater on and the blankets up to his chin so he wouldn’t have to look at the awful hospital gown. He’d put on some random cartoon just to pass the time and was eating a doughnut that Nicky had made him when Neil came in.

_ Well, this day just keeps getting better and better. _

Well, at least he could pretend that his silence was deliberate, and not because his crush just suddenly appeared in his hospital room. So he stared.

Thankfully, Neil cleared his throat and motioned to the TV. “That interesting?”

“You don’t seem hurt. Why are you at the hospital? Wait, don’t tell me, they’re finally signing your mother in a psychiatric ward.”

“Don’t want to ruin your mood, but not yet.” Neil laughed, and Andrew could already hear it, the alluring melody of that stupid siren song which tugged at his treacherous heartstrings.

“Shame.”

Neil rolled his eyes and sat on the chair near Andrew’s bed, leaning forward with his arms on his knees, giving Andrew a nice close up of his blue eyes. Andrew would blame it on the fever, but he could swear he heard waves crashing in his ears.

“Why do you think I’m here?”

“To give your mother a heart attack.”

“Very funny. I could do it just as easily in the house. I came here to apologize.”

Andrew lifted a brow at him in mock surprise. “That’s new. I wasn’t aware that you owed me anything, let alone an apology.”

“Are you really going to pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about?” Neil frowned and looked around the hospital room in emphasis.

“Oh, this? Last I checked, you didn’t infect me with pneumonia.”

“Yeah, but you caught it because of me.”

“You flatter yourself, Josten. I’m self-destructive, not stupid.”

“So you caught pneumonia just so you could skip school and watch cartoons?”

“And eat Nicky’s doughnuts. They’re worth skipping, you should try them.”

Neil just stared at him like he was impossible, and what else could Andrew do but prove him right. They stared at each other for a few moments before Neil finally relented and leaned back against the chair. He took his backpack and shook it in his hands.

“Well, if you’re not going to let me apologize, I guess I’ll have to take all these sweets I brought as an apology.”

Of  _ course _ he knew how to get Andrew wrapped around his little finger. Did the bastard even try at this point? Or was Andrew way too into him for that to even matter? Well, he could think about that after he ate all the sweets.

“You know, I was leaving your house because your mother was keeping you as a prisoner when the storm caught me so I’m willing to accept this as her apology.”

“So you want them?”

“I told you. I don’t want anything.”

Neil was starting to retract the bag when Andrew shot his hand forward and took the candy bag from Neil’s backpack.

“But I will take them because I’m hungry and this hospital food is shitty.”

Neil huffed a laugh. “Whatever you say.”

Before Andrew could utter a retort, Neil pulled out a notebook and started leafing through it.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, since you must be oh, so lonely, I thought I’d stay a bit and keep you company.”

“You told your mother you were at my house and it would be suspicious if you came this early, didn’t you?”

“Hmm, maybe.” Neil gave him a quizzical smile without looking up from his notebook.

The next half an hour or so they spent in comfortable silence. Neil did his homework while Andrew systematically went through the candies, not even bothering to offer Neil some since he knew the latter didn’t like sweets. Andrew tried to concentrate on the TV, on the bright colours and loud noises, but no matter how hard he tried, he found that Neil’s presence, so close yet so far away, would always be louder and he couldn’t help but throw glimpses at Neil; Neil furrowing his brow when he heard Andrew cough roughly; Neil’s lips stretching in a lazy smile after figuring out a tough problem; Neil sleepily rubbing his eyes or biting his lip in concentration. The wind was rising, the waves were crashing and crashing, and he was a reckless sailor looking down into the ocean’s wild waters, deep blue like-

“Uh, Andrew, you okay there?”

Andrew couldn’t entirely suppress the full body shudder and he turned to look at the IV in his arm so he wouldn’t have to look at Neil’s face. And to block Neil’s view of his heated red one. 

“Apparently not.”

“I’m serious, you’re red all over. We should call a nurse in case your fever’s back up.”

“Don’t be stupid. It’s just too hot in the room, junkie.”

And, wanting to prove that he’s right, he sat up and kicked the blankets down at his feet. Neil didn't seem fazed, though. He didn’t try to throw the blankets over Andrew, but he was halfway out of his chair.

“Might be, but you should still have it checked. I’ll be right back.”

Andrew wanted to argue more, but he knew there was no point when Neil, the junkie, set his mind to something. Like exy, or those stupid math problems, or arguing about irrelevant things just to prove a point. When Neil got out the door, he plopped back on the bed and repeated every curse word he knew in English, German, and some French ones he managed to pick up from Neil.  _ Neil. _ Ok, scratch French. Fuck French. Specifically Neil speaking French.

He crossed his arms, fully prepared to refuse to cooperate because he was supposed to be better than this, and blushing so badly that your crush needed to call the nurse is, frankly, embarrassing. But then Neil came back with the nurse and had that anxious furrow between his brows and just as Andrew thought he’d managed to overcome the high waves, they rose again even higher and threatened to pull him under.

The nurse asked him the regular questions and checked his pulse and blood pressure, and when Andrew refused to let her touch his forehead to check if he had a fever she sighed as if she was used to difficult patients, and pulled out a thermometer.

_ Great. Could this day get any worse _ ? He stopped his thoughts at that, not wanting to bring any more misery on himself.

The thermometer beeped and Andrew passed it to the nurse. He watched as confusion passed across her face as she compared Andrew’s still red face with completely normal results, but she managed to catch herself in time when she saw Andrew glaring daggers at her. She threw a quick glance at Neil, then back at Andrew, and back at Neil, and Andrew could almost hear a  _ click _ as it dawned on her. Andrew felt his shoulders stiffen but, luckily, the nurse (Abby, Andrew remembered, and told himself not to antagonize her too much until they let him out as thanks) just smiled knowingly and said that he was probably overheated from the blankets and that she’d be back to check on him later.

A pathetic wheeze of relief which he would blame on his trouble with breathing escaped his throat, and he slowly relaxed his stiff shoulders as she left them alone. 

He wasn’t going to shoot his shot looking miserable in a hospital room, but he also never believed he’d meet someone who could make him blush so hard he needed a nurse to check up on him. The waves were deafening, spraying his face with stray droplets, the wind was howling, but in the middle of that cacophony Andrew heard it - the melody, soft and inviting, overpowering the storm. Andrew closed his eyes and jumped. Water was everywhere around him, engulfing him, and he was only going deeper. But when he opened his eyes, instead of the darkness, he saw red.

Andrew sighed and played with the tape pinning the IV. “I hate you.”

Neil answered, unbothered, like Andrew knew he would. “What else is new?”

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t blow you.”

Silence. Then, unsure, “You like me?”

Andrew left the tape and let his glare be his answer. He could see the surprise and doubt in Neil’s face, but then he took a better look at Andrew’s blush. His eyes widened and his voice was a little breathless when he said, “You  _ like _ like me.”

“Yes, Josten, I think we’ve already established that.”

“But you never said anything.”

“I told you. I’m self-destructive, not stupid.”

Neil let out a laugh and smiled at Andrew.  “You know, you look like a tomato right now?”

But he said it like tuh- _ mah _ -toh, not to tuh- _ may _ -toh, and Andrew felt like death is finally coming to get its ugly claws on him, so he tried to bury as much of himself in the blankets as possible.

“Fight me.”

“I could literally flick you with my finger and knock you out.”

“I’ll tell the nurse you’re harassing me.”

He meant it as a joke but was still surprised when Neil laughed and got up to go.

“Well, my mom will be harassing me if I don’t get back home soon, so… But hey, when you get out maybe we can…” he gestured vaguely with his hands.

“If you say fight with our faces, I’ll personally put you in intensive care.”

“Such a party breaker. We don’t have to fight with our faces.” He paused. “Always.”

Andrew rolled his eyes but said, “Yes. Now go and leave me alone.”

He watched Neil as he was going but then Neil looked at him one more time. Andrew quickly turned away and pretended to watch the cartoons.

“And Andrew?”

It wasn’t a question so he just said, “Josten.”

“Red looks nice on you.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! don't forget to leave kudos and comments, and feel free to talk to me at minyardxva.tumblr.com or @minyardxva on twitter! <3


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